HOUSTON, May 7, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Ensemble Theatre seeks audition videos for soloists to perform in a walk-on role in 35th Anniversary Season finale musical and gospel comedy, Sanctified, by Javon Johnson.
"We thought using social media would be a fresh way to approach auditions for such a fun show," says Eileen J. Morris, Ensemble Theatre Artistic Director. "We have a number of fans following us on Facebook for updates on the performances and giving us good direct feedback...this will provide another exciting way to keep our Facebook fans engaged."
Audition videos should be submitted anytime between May 7 – June 1, 2012 on The Ensemble Theatre's Facebook Page, where voting will be left up to the theatre's fans.
The Ensemble Theatre Facebook URL for video submissions: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Ensemble-Theatre-Houston/77509157200.
The top ten videos with the most 'likes' on Facebook will be invited to the Texas Black Expo on June 14, 2012. The final three soloists will be selected by a panel of judges that will include: Gospel Recording Artist, Kathy Taylor; Sanctified Director/ Choreographer Patdro Harris and Sanctified Musical Director Carlton Leake.
All of the final three contestants must be available for a determined rehearsal schedule that will include: music, acting, and dance. The soloists will perform for one week each during the run of the show. Each performance week will begin on a Thursday evening and end on Sunday afternoon.
Sanctified is a hilarious gospel comedy that opens a window to the African American church, gospel music, and the congregations that sustain it. East Piney Grove Church (standing on its traditions...and its last legs) is faced with the challenge of working together in their last-ditch effort for a successful revival. Their newly appointed Pastor, in desperation, enlists the help of his cousin and self-proclaimed gospel D-I-V-A, but the church elders won't stand for it.
The Ensemble Theatre was founded in 1976 by the late George Hawkins to preserve African American artistic expression and to enlighten, entertain, and enrich a diverse community. Thirty-five years later, the theatre has evolved from a touring company operating from the trunk of Mr. Hawkins' car to being one of Houston's finest historical cultural institutions. The Ensemble is one of a few professional theatres in the region dedicated to the production of works portraying the African American experience.
The oldest and largest professional African American theatre in the Southwest, it holds the distinction of being one of the nation's largest African American theatres owning and operating its facility and producing in-house. Board President Emeritus Audrey Lawson led the capital campaign for The Ensemble's $4.5 million building renovations that concluded in 1997. The Ensemble Theatre has fulfilled and surpassed the vision of its founder and continues to expand and create innovative programs to bring African American theatre to a myriad of audiences.
The Texas Black Expo is a non-profit organization created in 2007. It operates with a mission to foster business growth and development, educate and expose youths to the world of entrepreneurship, and provide events designed to inform, economically empower and establish the local community.
The producers of the Houston Black Expo, President Jerome Love and Vice President Shannon Cormier, Ph.D., formed the Texas Black Expo with a desire to brand the organization as more than a once-per-year tradeshow organization. Rather, the focus will be on delivering year-round community development events, connecting Texas businesses to the communities it serves, and developing the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Operated by the Black Expo of Houston, LLC, the Houston Black Expo has served the Houston community since 2004 with its signature event, the "Summer Celebration." This event has grown to become the largest African-American marketing tradeshow in the state of Texas, now drawing close to 20,000 attendees, more than 250 vendors, and numerous attractions over the course of the nationally recognized two-day weekend.